>Opposition Leader **Sussan Ley** has reminded members of the Coalition frontbench that “shadow cabinet solidarity is not optional”.
>”Maintaining a strong and functioning Coalition is in the national interest. The Coalition exists to serve the Australian people. But shadow cabinet is not optional. It is the foundation of serious opposition and credible government,” she says.
>Ley said Nationals **Ross Cadell, Bridget McKenzie and Susan McDonald,** in their resignation letters, confirmed they “remain ready to continue serving the Coalition in whatever capacity you consider appropriate”.
>She said she asked them to continue serving “across various parliamentary and committee duties” but from outside the shadow cabinet.
>Ley will appoint three new Nationals to the frontbench on the advice of leader **David Littleproud.**
Perfect-Werewolf-102 on
Ley had to put her foot down, it would have been disastrous if she’d let it slide
HotPersimessage62 on
Great news.
Bridget McKenzie, the former shadow transport minister, during 2023-2024, had a huge axe to grind against our national carrier, Qantas, and was the biggest supporter of state-owned Qatar Airways. Whether it be setting up politically charged anti-Qantas, pro-Qatar Senate inquiries or making raging tweets against Qantas and in support of Qatar, all of those actions were all deeply inappropriate and un-Australian for someone who claims to be a patriot. If she really likes QR so much then she’s free to move to Qatar.
Hopefully the new Shadow Transport Minister is pro-Qantas. If you are against Qantas you are against Australia. Someone like Anne Ruston who has made comments in support of Qantas should become the shadow transport minister.
I for one celebrate this occasion.
Also, it’s weird that McKenzie claims to be pro-Israel but is the Australian Parliament’s biggest supporter of Qatar Airways.
CommonwealthGrant on
On the bright side, we are no longer paying these monkeys an extra $60k or so additional salary for sitting on the opposition front bench.
On the other hand, we will end up paying for replacement monkeys
HotPersimessage62 on
Also, is there actually any difference in pay when it comes to being a shadow minister vs an opposition backbencher?
fartyunicorns on
Are they trying to get people to defect to one nation?
Expensive-Horse5538 on
Albo must be happy that the best part about all of this is somehow the attention is now shifting back onto how divided the opposition is.
banramarama2 on
How long till the have to leave shadow font bench positions vacant because they have run out of people? Surely their getting close now
Blindog68 on
And these dead shits thought they were good enough to form Government.
Dranzer_22 on
One parliamentary sitting day.
That’s all it took for Albo to expose the Opposition clown show after they spent the past month politicising a national tragedy.
Joyce defected to ON, Price switched to the Liberal Party Room, Canavan resigned from Shadow Cabinet, and now McKenzie, McDonald, & Cadell have been fired from Shadow Cabinet. Ley is now left with the D-list team from the National Party Room to fill her empty Shadow Cabinet positions.
Sad-Extreme-4413 on
Ley waters down Labor’s hate-speech bill and boots her own Nationals frontbenchers for dissent. Leadership isn’t selling out your principles, it’s defending them. She’s over her head.
LordWalderFrey1 on
Albo wasn’t unhurt by the response to Bondi and the fallout.
But the one thing he did well was to make sure whatever damage he took, Sussan and the Coalition were not going to get a win from it.
Wonder who will replace these three. I have to think though not having Bridget McKenzie at the forefront will at least help with the Coalition’s image, if there is a silver lining for them, it’s this.
14 Comments
Littleproud last night – “don’t worry everyone, this won’t impact the unity of the Coalition”
*Three members quit next day*
Oh man. Love the clown show. Keep it coming 🤣🤣🤣
[Sussan Ley’s response](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-21/federal-politics-live-blog-jan-21/106251764?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web#live-blog-post-253586)
>Opposition Leader **Sussan Ley** has reminded members of the Coalition frontbench that “shadow cabinet solidarity is not optional”.
>”Maintaining a strong and functioning Coalition is in the national interest. The Coalition exists to serve the Australian people. But shadow cabinet is not optional. It is the foundation of serious opposition and credible government,” she says.
>Ley said Nationals **Ross Cadell, Bridget McKenzie and Susan McDonald,** in their resignation letters, confirmed they “remain ready to continue serving the Coalition in whatever capacity you consider appropriate”.
>She said she asked them to continue serving “across various parliamentary and committee duties” but from outside the shadow cabinet.
>Ley will appoint three new Nationals to the frontbench on the advice of leader **David Littleproud.**
Ley had to put her foot down, it would have been disastrous if she’d let it slide
Great news.
Bridget McKenzie, the former shadow transport minister, during 2023-2024, had a huge axe to grind against our national carrier, Qantas, and was the biggest supporter of state-owned Qatar Airways. Whether it be setting up politically charged anti-Qantas, pro-Qatar Senate inquiries or making raging tweets against Qantas and in support of Qatar, all of those actions were all deeply inappropriate and un-Australian for someone who claims to be a patriot. If she really likes QR so much then she’s free to move to Qatar.
Hopefully the new Shadow Transport Minister is pro-Qantas. If you are against Qantas you are against Australia. Someone like Anne Ruston who has made comments in support of Qantas should become the shadow transport minister.
I for one celebrate this occasion.
Also, it’s weird that McKenzie claims to be pro-Israel but is the Australian Parliament’s biggest supporter of Qatar Airways.
On the bright side, we are no longer paying these monkeys an extra $60k or so additional salary for sitting on the opposition front bench.
On the other hand, we will end up paying for replacement monkeys
Also, is there actually any difference in pay when it comes to being a shadow minister vs an opposition backbencher?
Are they trying to get people to defect to one nation?
Albo must be happy that the best part about all of this is somehow the attention is now shifting back onto how divided the opposition is.
How long till the have to leave shadow font bench positions vacant because they have run out of people? Surely their getting close now
And these dead shits thought they were good enough to form Government.
One parliamentary sitting day.
That’s all it took for Albo to expose the Opposition clown show after they spent the past month politicising a national tragedy.
Joyce defected to ON, Price switched to the Liberal Party Room, Canavan resigned from Shadow Cabinet, and now McKenzie, McDonald, & Cadell have been fired from Shadow Cabinet. Ley is now left with the D-list team from the National Party Room to fill her empty Shadow Cabinet positions.
Ley waters down Labor’s hate-speech bill and boots her own Nationals frontbenchers for dissent. Leadership isn’t selling out your principles, it’s defending them. She’s over her head.
Albo wasn’t unhurt by the response to Bondi and the fallout.
But the one thing he did well was to make sure whatever damage he took, Sussan and the Coalition were not going to get a win from it.
Wonder who will replace these three. I have to think though not having Bridget McKenzie at the forefront will at least help with the Coalition’s image, if there is a silver lining for them, it’s this.